This could have been posted in "Joke of the Day", but it's not a joke. Just a quick anecdote, certainly not a complaint. About a year ago I bought a Halfbike II, quite an interesting new invention, and very well engineered and built. Being of such an age as I am, my brain just couldn't wrap itself around actually learning to ride it. If I had learned to ride a skateboard, I could have easily transferred that experience to the Halfbike. The halfbike ride actually contradicts the basics of a conventional two-wheel bicycle. It's true one can never really forget how to ride a bike. It's also true that one never really forgets how to ride a skateboard. I never learned how to ride a skateboard, therefore I simply lacked the instinctive balancing skill it takes to ride the Halfbike. What's that got to do with Shipping Costs - Conus to Hawaii??? Sorry I rambled. I do that a lot these days.

Long story short: Wanted to sell the Halfbike. It only weighs 19 pounds. I paid $400 and listed it at $295 "buy it now" on ebay. I asked an additional $65 to cover shipping, with the understanding that I'd probably have to bear a bit over the amount, as I have done often. Share some of the cost with the buyer, etc. You get the picture. Last night (2:00 am actually) a gentleman from Hawaii bought it, paid me a total of $360. That amount was immediately placed into my PayPal account. Great! I spent this morning preparing the Halfbike for a nice trip to Hawaii. All packed up and ready to go, I went to UPS. The two folks at the counter both inhaled sharply and were quick to remind me it will have to be flown to the destination, which I had already presumed. --- $857.00 --- Not a typo --- just a few bucks less than a thousand dollars!

Here's what I did. (1.) I sent the fellow a full refund with a note of explanation. (2.) I notified ebay that I had sent a full refund and was cancelling the sale and the ebay listing. No problem, no sale, no money in dispute. All is well and I've still got the pretty Halfbike. I'll wait a few days and then I'll list it on Craigs List.

something is very fishy. Big box stuff gets moved around the world all day long, every day of the week. if the costs were that high people in hawaii, for example, would either have to be billionaires to afford toilet paper or they would have to use leaves.....the price quoted makes absolutely no sense at all

The $857 UPS quote was accurate, however that was the most expensive option - 2 day delivery. (Why the UPS store representative did not tell me there were other options I do not know.) One step down, but still expensive would have been about $25 cheaper, still over $800. The cheapest UPS choice would have been about $465. Still out of the question, obviously.

USPS cheapest rate would have been around $180 more or less.

Surprisingly, FedEx least expensive rate to Hawaii would have been $139.

If Craig's list (cash payment; local pickup in person only; no ebay or paypal fees) doesn't work out, and if I should decide to go the ebay route again I will require buyer to cover the full cost of shipping, with carrier to be selected by the seller (me) to be determined and agreed upon (and added to the sale price) before the sale is finalized.

fallingwickets wrote:something is very fishy. Big box stuff gets moved around the world all day long, every day of the week. if the costs were that high people in hawaii, for example, would either have to be billionaires to afford toilet paper or they would have to use leaves.....the price quoted makes absolutely no sense at all

Shipping can be quite expensive. The rates also vary quite a bit depending on your monthly shipping volume. If Gary was a frequent flier, he would have received a much better rate.

The only times I've had things broken is when someone shipping to me wrote "fragile" on the outside of the carton. I know better than to do that. It's like putting a target on it for people having bad days.

Good idea, but the largest flat rate USPS box is 12 x 12 x 5.5 inches and costs a very reasonable $18.85 from my house to Honolulu HI. Big enough to ship a large telephone book or maybe 4 bricks, but no bicycles.

After 6 months, I've decided to relist my Halfbike on ebay. This time I've included a provision that excludes Hawaii and Alaska, unless the buyer wants to pay the full cost of shipping. One never knows what will sell, so it's always interesting.